SAYED
video and sound, in Arabic with English subtitles, running time: 4 minutes

Sayed, a dive guide in Alexandria, describes navigating among the thousands of lighthouse stones underwater. Combined with the interview is footage I filmed of Sayed among the ruins over the course of a diving season.

"Ga's interviews with Sayed highlight the limits of visibility–of what can be seen and not heard, heard and not seen. Underwater photography is illegal at the diving site and given the swell and pollution, it is nearly impossible to capture images of the ruins, which resided twenty feet beneath the surface. Still, while Sayed says he has never seen a map of the ruins, he remarks that based on his experience he knows where the stones are: "It's in my head," he says, adding, "Whenever we see these remains, we can have a mental picture of the lighthouse."

(excerpted from essay by Lauren O'Neill Butler, the full text can be read here).